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057 - The Imprint of Destiny
🕑 Added 2024-08-06 18:46:21 +0000 UTCQin Yun's self-satisfied grin didn't last long, as Liao Cheng never stopped his assault. He pounced on him, his fists laced with murderous intent. Qin Yun's eyes widened as he rose to his feet in a hurry, barely avoiding the strike aimed at his head.
The runes, present on the wall, flashed with effervescence, then quickly dimmed as they expended their energy, dispersing the concentrated force of Liao Cheng’s blow on its whole surface. The walls creaked as they deformed from the impact, leaving vestiges of it on their exteriors.
“I guess I was a fool for believing any of you had any integrity," Qin Yun said out loud as he kicked Liao Cheng away, ramming his foot into his chest.
Liao Cheng recoiled back, his breath cut short. He took a moment to compose himself, feeling that the flow of his Qi remained somewhat obstructed even after removing the metal fragments from his flesh. However, he knew this would only be temporary.
“Why should I go along with your games? Besides, I never agreed to those terms,” Liao Cheng said, sneering.
Yet, even Sun Yu didn't believe that. She knew full well what type of man he was, and it wasn't unexpected knowing his character. In fact, she found this indomitable character, unwilling to suffer a loss, somewhat endearing.
On the other hand, Qin Yun had lost all patience with this man. He had done his best to resolve this peacefully, yet his counterpart knew only how to rely on violence to get his way. Therefore, Qin Yun would do the same.
The usual smile he permanently plastered on his face faded, becoming neither warm nor cold but only the epitome of indifference. He seemed to be apathy personified. He rose to his full height, looking down on Liao Cheng as if he was inconsequential, which couldn't help but make Liao Cheng feel insulted. He was used to contempt, yet this indifference was unnerving.
Qin Yun always tried to mask his indifference, even when he sometimes let it slip. He knew that smiling, even if it was fake, would leave a good impression and might make some situations easier to overcome.
But, now, he was done. Done with this man who only knew how to use violence to get his way. Done with cultivation clans where people only cared about stepping on others to rise above them. Done with this city where intrigues, machinations, politics, and betrayal were the norms, and done with this world that rejected anything foreign.
Qin Yun only wanted to spend time with his wife, probing the mysteries of cultivation with her, all the while trying to regain a joy for living. Yet, much too many things were standing in his way. If violence was the only language they recognized, then Qin Yun would speak it. If pain was the only stimulus that spoke to them, then Qin Yun would utilize it to its fullest.
He was done accommodating people who couldn’t be reasoned with.
Liao Cheng felt unnerved looking at the present Qin Yun, yet he soon discarded that feeling. After all, his opponent was a wreck. Blood flowed from his wounds, staining his clothes red, while the man's right arm seemed to be out of ammunition. He could see that Qin Yun was at the end of his rope, yet that feeling only grew stronger.
Qin Yun looked down on Liao Cheng briefly, but then a light flickered in Qin Yun's eyes. Near where his vision ended, space started to weave and fluctuate, creating ripples onto the very fabric of reality.
An alarming sense of dread appeared at the bottom of Liao Cheng's heart, and he jerked his right arm back mostly on instinct, yet he was slightly too late. His hand seemed to have been held in place by space itself as if locked up in a vice, unable to move. Yet, the tension produced by his jerk was transmitted to it. Unfortunately, his flesh had never been designed nor trained to sustain such forces, and his muscles started tearing at his wrist.
Liao Cheng screamed as the bones in his forearm broke, shattering the flesh enveloping them as it created a miniature explosion. After all, the force a Nascent Soul cultivator could produce was several times higher than their flesh could sustain. Unconsciously using Qi in an effort to get away could only lead to that result.
This time, Liao Cheng looked at Qin Yun with a slight fear in his eyes as he clutched his limping hand once it was released from its stasis, only to see bloody tears drip out of Qin Yun's eye sockets. Then, he felt other space fluctuations near his legs.
The space contorted, folding in on itself. Liao Cheng pointed a finger at the bead lying on the floor, trying to inject his Qi into it and attempting to lock space. Yet, even after doing so and assuring that space was now fixed in place by the power of the bead, the space fluctuations near his legs only grew more prominent.
Dread took over his heart, and he tried to escape, yet it would prove futile. Space held one of his legs in place before twisting it in an unnatural shape, distorting it and making it resemble a ball of flesh and blood.
A yell of agony escaped Liao Cheng's throat as he fell to the floor. Still, Qin Yun was far from done, even as his eyes were bloodshot and blood now fell from his nose. A pounding headache assaulted his brain as the strain of what he did seared into his mind. Still, he didn't care. Liao Cheng wanted to see what he was capable of, so he would show him.
Once he could finally regain his breath, Liao Cheng gritted his teeth, replacing the fear he felt with pure fury. Even as he lay on the floor, a white lotus appeared above him, showing its might. He then pointed toward Qin Yun, manifesting vortexes aimed at him, yet nothing came of it.
Just as they sprung into existence, reality split itself, shattering those vortexes in two halves right down the middle. They fizzled out—the Qi infused within scattering outwards. Yet, this wouldn't be the end of it.
The same happened near Liao Cheng's remaining arm, but this time at a much smaller yet numerous scale. In fact, the number of splits was uncountable, almost infinite, all aimed at Liao Cheng's arm. It was only after the intense pain he felt receded that he recognized what had happened. His entire arm had exploded in a shower of gore, only leaving a clean cut at the shoulder.
Minuscule beads of blood hung in the air momentarily before falling like rain, dyeing Liao Cheng in its gore. Surprisingly, even as Qin Yun walked toward his victim as blood flowed from all of his seven orifices, Liao Cheng still showed defiance and reluctance on his face, yet he couldn’t mask the dread hidden in his eyes.
With difficulty, Liao Cheng circulated his Qi around the ring on his remaining hand, extracting countless clear crystals before a white vortex engulfed them. Then, as if a miracle, his wounds began to heal rapidly, even faster than Qin Yun could with his Innate Qi. In fact, it seemed more akin to rebirth than regeneration.
Qin Yun watched the spectacle with disinterest, seeing no reason to stop him. In fact, this would only make Liao Cheng slightly more resistant to Qin Yun’s torture. Qin Yun took no pleasure in it, yet lessons needed to be learned just as he had learned his. Without incentive, people weren't prone to remember.
Liao Cheng reconstructed his limbs by extracting the life energy contained within the crystals. He could now stand and walk again in a matter of seconds, yet this only gave Qin Yun an excuse to take them away.
With a wave of his hand laced with his destructive intent, one of Liao Cheng's limbs was blown away once again, jolting his brain with excruciating pain once more. Every time the man regained his limb, Qin Yun would strike again, finding new and novel ways to break them. Yet, Qin Yun's state would grow worse each time, but he didn't care. They would learn the consequences of not heading his words.
Soon enough, Liao Cheng ran out of crystals to use. His hair was dried out white as he lay on the floor, panting, his visage now twisted by pain and fear. Yet, Qin Yun could still see a hint of defiance in his eyes, which he couldn't help but admire. Not many could endure what he had without breaking.
To his side was Sun Yu, pleading for Qin Yun to show mercy. She had tried to block Qin Yun's onslaught on her lover, yet Qin Yun hadn't cared. Each time she attacked him, he would retaliate on the helpless Liao Cheng, only furthering his pain. Soon enough, she stopped, fearing she would be the reason for his demise.
She clung to Liao Cheng's limbless body, sobbing uncontrollably, yet her tears didn't evoke any emotions in Qin Yun's heart. The only reason he hadn't taken Liao Cheng's life was that doing so was a mercy he wasn't inclined to give.
Besides, Qin Yun’s state was also precarious. Intent wasn’t something to be used lightly. While it could be used to bend the universe to one’s will, it would also put an equal strain on the psyche, taxing the brain, something a human brain could hardly sustain. It was only due to Qin Yun not using intent to its fullest that he could remain standing and conscious.
His clothes were now completely red as his own blood was caked all over it. He felt dizzy from the blood loss and could barely remain conscious. Yet, unless the man admitted his mistake, Qin Yun wouldn’t stop.
Unfortunately, he couldn't kill Liao Cheng as he couldn't contend with Sun Yu's father if he were to incur his wrath for doing so. Still, he would instill fear in Liao Cheng's heart, making sure he would never dare cross him from now on.
While Qin Yun loathed using such methods, drastic measures needed to be taken at this point. He couldn’t continue to be at the mercy of other higher beings. Was living in peace too much to expect? Qin Yun couldn’t help but feel someone had orchestrated all this to push him to this point. After all, what were the chances of Liao Cheng’s freak teleporting incident ending here?
From the first day he entered his residence and found Feng Xia within, Qin Yun had felt as if every incident was linked, only to push him toward a specific outcome. He had tried to fight against it, even negotiating with this man, if only to resist the feeling he had sensed in his heart. Yet, there was nothing to be done.
It felt like destiny was slowly wrapping the noose around his neck. He only had two choices: to comply or perish. If destiny wanted him to be ruthless, then so be it. He would be as cruel as he needed to be if it meant he could get what he truly wanted. In this case, he wanted this whole incident to be over and done with. However, for it to be so, he would need this couple's cooperation.
Qin Yun's gaze locked onto Sun Yu, which couldn't help but make her shudder. She once thought she understood what type of man he was, yet the indifference in his gaze was hard to sustain. She couldn't help but feel like an ant under it, ultimately inconsequential. Sweat poured out of her pores as she felt a primordial fear of death take over her.
Qin Yun scoffed at the sight, which prompted tears to well in the corner of her eyes. Then, without even deigning to acknowledge their existence, he went and retrieved the chair he was once seated in before taking a seat as if nothing had transpired, wiping the blood on his face using torn fabric he found around the room.
"Are you ready to listen now?" Qin Yun said, his tone colder than they had ever thought possible.
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Blake Weltner
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